Bringing clarity to a confused world

Welcome to the C & C blog

In this busy paced world with all our high-tech communication devices, with our ability to talk to almost anyone anywhere in the world we often times misunderstand each other simply because we confuse each other. The purpose of this blog is to try to bring some clarity to this confused world. We hope that each individual will find some light and understanding through the articles and forums that you will find here. The truth is that the best way to bring understanding is through an open dialogue. If you wish to summit a article of your own, please send it to christianity_confusion@aol.com

The Next Step for Kavanaugh may be Impeachment. With the defection of Joe Manchin and with Susan Collins putting party over morality, it looks sadly certain that the Senate will vote to put Brett M. Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court. The question is whether this ends the story? Is there a next move? The answer is no the story is not over, and yes there is another move ahead, but for a while, there may be nothing barring an act of God to stop the placement of Kavanaugh on that Court. (Political)

Which is What ~ Don’t be Deceived by the Word Twisters I am getting angry at the twisting of terms by the right and even more by those who share our convictions repeating the attempts to confuse people into drawing imaginary lines between being politically Liberal or Progressive and thus creating division where none exists. It is nothing new to see the Right stealing our names and terms to empower themselves and weaken us. They would love nothing more than to see us fighting with each other. I call on all to reject their lies and refuse to be deceived by their some what clever attempts to redefine the meanings of Liberal and Progressive. (Political)

Trump Republicans are trying to fool us with Their Memes For years the Republicans have been very good at messaging, sadly those messages have rarely been truthful. Today there are many Republican memes disguised as Progressive Democratic opinions. The goals of these Trump Republicans are simply to divide. By dividing the opposition through such dishonest propaganda, these Republicans are trying to cling to power. These Republican memes differ according to whom they are aiming at. Each meme has the same goal, to divide everyone left of center. (Political)

Harming the cause of Christ Frank Luntz asked Donald Trump “have you ever asked God for forgiveness?” Notice how Trump tried to dance around the question and how Luntz had to ask it again.

Following Donald Trump’s appearance last week at the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, CNN’s Anderson Cooper sought out clarification on Trump’s assertion that he’s unsure if he ever asks God’s forgiveness.

Cooper followed up asking Trump if “asking for forgiveness” is a central tenet in his faith life.

“I try not make mistakes where I have to ask forgiveness,” Trump answered. (Religion)

The Love of Money When greed and selfishness becomes the norm we must stop and reevaluate the reasons why. We do not have to look far to find our answer, the airways are filled with get rich quick schemes, the media is full of messages tell about taking care of number one and we hear politicians playing on peoples fears and greed telling them,” it’s your money!” Then somebody asked,”Why has America seen such a moral decay?” This simple, it’s because of the love of money. (Religion)

As Bad as Noah’s FloodAccording to the Bible at the end of the Ice Age (we think) the known world was about to be flooded. We now think that at that time all humanity had congregated where the Black Sea now sits. Because of the Ice Age most of the world’s water was locked up in ice and this area was dry. Once this ice began to melt, it weakened the ice dam protecting the human civilization. God spoke to Noah of the coming doom, but the rest of humanity was too arrogate to listen. For as long as they could remember, life had existed this way and if it were to change some with power over others might have seen or feared that would change. So, they mocked Noah with pseudo science which has no bases in reality.

Now, the Republican legislator who put the bill forward is defending it because even rape and incest are “the will of God.” (Video below)

“Life, no matter how it is conceived, is valuable and something to be protected,” said Rep. George Faught during a debate over the proposed law, according to NBC TV station KFOR. “Let me be clear, God never approves of rape or incest. However, even in the worst circumstances, God can bring beauty from ashes.”

The Attacks Against Jewish graveyards, schools and Synagogues since Trump became PresidentIt’s easy to put the blame for all the anti-Semitic attacks, the attacks on Muslims, Immigrants and African-Americans on the extreme Trump followers, but we must be careful and as Cenk Uygur said in the video, push for an investigation. We all know that Trump has been pushing rhetoric and policies which promote hate. Trump finally spoke out about these attacks, but only so that the Right could say that he did. His heart really didn’t seem to be in that address, all he did was to read a prepared statement which was clearly not his own words.

To be clear Hate groups have been active long before Trump starting his campaign. We also know that an young Donald Trump was a strong contributor to racism. Many would like to forget Trump’s past, but there are far too many racists who are embracing it.

Trump’s Business Just Got Chinese Approval To Operate Escort ServicesThe hypocrisy of Republicans is unbelievable! My God, if a Democrat had been grabbing women by there private parts, cheating workers out of their pay, refusing to show their tax records and getting golden showers in Russia, the Republicans would have impeached him in a second. Why is it okay to promote prostitution if the man doing it is a Republican? Trump makes me so sick!

Trump Accused Obama Of Wiretapping Him and the Obama’s Response was Perfect This morning, President Donald Trump lashed out in an impulsive tweetstorm accusing President Obama of ordering the wiretapping of Trump Tower in a pathetic attempt to deflect attention away from the investigation into suspected collusion between the Trump team and agents of the Russian Federation.

Instead, he ended up just throwing more fuel on the fire that threatens to engulf his entire administration.

If Trump is against Trade Deals, I’ll be For Them ~ Is that a Mistake? It use be that Republicans were for trade agreements and Democrats have historically been opposed to them. New polls show that this is switching, as reported on the Thom Hartmann show. The primary reason is that Trump is is toxic that when he seems to be for or against something it is easy to take the opposite position. We must be careful, because somethings are wrong or right regardless of who is advocating them. Instead of opposing Trump’s stand against trade deals which is bringing many Republicans to our cause, we must remember that these are our causes. Why have such things been our causes? Because they are the right things!… (Political)

The Separation Between Church and State ~ Good for Both There is a reason that the Founding Fathers supported a separation between Church and State. They feared that unelected religious figures would unduly control our government and dictate to the public how they must live while others feared that the government would corrupt the Church. I submit to you that both are the true reasons for a wall between the Church and the State. Only a fool or an insecure individual would want to tear down that wall.

The question which I pose to Christians who want to remove this wall is this… (Political)

The House Intelligence Committee has finally achieved a bipartisan agreement to investigate President Donald J. Trump and his team’s extensive ties to Russia after non-stop public pressure from the ranking Democrat on the panel.… Post your comments here.(Political)

Republicans are attempting to end democracy in AmericaThere are two histories of voting in the United States, there has been those who strive to see that every citizen has a right to vote and there has been those who have strive to limit the number of voters to those who will favor their candidate or causes. Conservatives have used everything from a poll tax to removing voters from the voting rolls to limit who votes, ten-hour waiting lines have been the norm in many of these red states. Of course such delays were only found in Democratic districts. All of these attempts to subvert the vote of the American people have been outrageous but they are nothing compared to what Republicans are planning for the future. (Political)

Climate change: How do we know? The Earth’s climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. Most of these climate changes are attributed to very small variations in Earth’s orbit that change the amount of solar energy our planet receives.

“The People’s Budget: A Raise For America“ The People’s Budget fixes an economy that, for too long, has failed to provide the opportunities American families need to get ahead. Despite their skills and work ethic, most American workers and families are so financially strapped from increasing income inequality that their paychecks barely cover basic necessities. They earn less and less as corporations and the wealthy continue amassing record profits. It has become clear to American workers that the system is rigged.

The People’s Budget levels the playing field and creates economic opportunity by increasing the pay of middle- and low-income Americans. More customers and higher consumer spending advance American businesses, not tax cuts and relaxed regulations. The People’s Budget drives a full economic recovery by creating high-quality jobs and reducing family expenses, restoring the buying power of working Americans…. Post your comments by clicking here(Political)

“Socialism has been part of America’s success story from the beginning.“ Turning the television or the radio the airwaves are full of people who love to label. As a rule this is done to silence those with opposing opinions. For years unscrupulous people have falsely used the term Socialism to demonize someone or groups who are just trying to make life better for all. With the advent of the presidential candidacy of Senator Bernie Sanders who is self described as a Democratic Socialist, we have seen these unscrupulous individuals lying, distorting and trying to confuse what it is to be a Democratic Socialist. Lets begin by stating that Democratic Socialism is different from pure Socialism and neither can be equated to Communism. Socialism is taxpayer funds being used collectively to benefit society as a whole, despite income, contribution, or ability.

The United States was founded as a hybrid government with is a republic with democratic representation, free enterprise some times wrongly confused with capitalism and what we would call democratic socialism. … Read More and comment by clicking here. (Political)

The New Evangelical AgendaNot really. But it was a disaster for the religious right, which had again tied its faith to the partisan political agenda of the Republican Party — which did lose the election. But Nov. 6 was an even deeper disaster for the religious right’s leaders, because they will no longer be able to control or easily co-opt the meaning of the term “evangelical.” (Political and Religion)

This article is titled, “What is an Evangelical? An Overview” Most people know evangelicalism only through the big, bellicose voices of TV preachers and religio-political activists such as Pat Robertson, the late Jerry Falwell and James Dobson. Not surprisingly, my friends hadn’t experienced an evangelicalism that sounded particularly loving, accepting or open-minded.After eschewing the descriptor because I hadn’t wanted to be associated with a faith tradition known more for harsh judgmentalism and fearmongering than the revolutionary love and freedom that Jesus taught, I began publicly referring to myself again as an evangelical. By speaking up, I hoped I might help reclaim “evangelical” for what it is supposed to mean. Join our discussion of this article at free-fire-zone.com/post/What-is-an-Evangelical… (Religious)

In these trying times when life can seem so heavy, when joy seems as a forgot time memory, when life is little more than a burden there is hope. This world can wear you out, money can seems so little, the demands for your time so great that it begins to seem maddening and we wonder what is the use of it all? This Faith video “Take My yoke” is based on what Jesus said, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Religious)

This article “Hate Kills” In a cartoon drawing Sean Delonas made his hate message of assassination clear. What should be alarming to everyone is the thought of assassination, which is the real implication of the cartoon. The projecting of this type of hatred violates everything that this Nation was founded on. It is such hateful propaganda which has lead to the shooting at Churches and of elected officials. What we must remember is that regardless of political bias, hate begets hate, we are a better nation than this. (Religious)

“Civility vs Incivility“As children we may have said cruel things to other children, we may even have been on the receiving end of cruel words, it was just something about being a kid. For most of us it wasn’t about picking on the weakest or being a bully. Most of us were only having fun without thinking about how our words might hurt the feelings of someone else. Like I said it with being a kid… (Political)

This Video article “Fears and Victory” Since the fall of man evil, selfish men have brought misery upon the world. Though the ages they have enslaved many by force or fear. Through fear they can control people and enslave them. Today the story is the same and we often feel hopeless. We pray for, work for and fight for change, only to be faced with more of the same. Maybe things really are changing for the better and we do not see it because of evil men shirring up fear. It really does not matter if these fears are real or imaginary, the affect is the same. I do not wish to address any particular issue which might provoke such fears; instead I want to focus on how we handle these fears. I have put together this video of Psalms 37 which I have found to be a real help. If I were to pick out one passage it would be this, for it speaks of how God always takes care of those who put their full trust in Him. (Religious)

The Free Fire Zone is our main message board with a whole host of topics and forums. Our general message board which is an open topic forum is titled Politics/News. This is followed by many more. ”

On Wings of Eagles Written by: Ken FollettFrom Jesus to Constantine: A History of Early Christianity Written by: The Great Courses Narrated by: Professor Bart D. EhrmanA Call to Arms: Mobilizing America for World War II Written by: Maury KleinChristian America and the Kingdom of God Written by: Richard T. HughesThe Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism Written by: Naomi KleinThe New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right Written by: Arthur GoldwagTwelve Years a Slave Written by: Solomon NorthupThe Origin of Civilization Written by: The Great Courses Narrated by: Professor Scott MacEachernWriting and Civilization: From Ancient Worlds to Modernity Written by: The Great Courses Narrated by: Professor Marc ZenderThe Russian Revolution: History in an Hour Written by: Rupert ColleyThe Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution Written by: Francis Fukuyama Narrated by: Jonathan DavisThe Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies Written by: Jonathan AlterLiving the French Revolution and the Age of Napoleon Written by: The Great Courses Narrated by: Professor Suzanne M. Desan Mere Christianity Written by: C.S. Lewis Narrated by: Geoffrey Howard The Skeptic's Guide to American History Written by: The Great Courses Narrated by: Professor Mark A. Stoler A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present Written by: Howard Zinn The Conscience of a Liberal Written by: Paul Krugman The Political Mind Written by: George Lakoff The Fox Effect: How Roger Ailes Turned a Network into a Propaganda Machine Written by: David Brock, Ari Rabin-Havt, Media Matters for America Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth Written by: Reza AslanThe Kingdom of the Cults Written by: Walter Martin Who Stole the American Dream? Written by: Hedrick Smith Predator Nation: Corporate Criminals, Political Corruption, and the Hijacking of America Written by: Charles H. Ferguson The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger Written by: Richard Wilkinson, Kate Pickett The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology Written by: Robert Wright The Story of Earth: The First 4.5 Billion Years, from Stardust to Living Planet Written by: Robert M. Hazen The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion Written by: Jonathan Haidt Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else Written by: Chrystia Freeland The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America Written by: George Packer It's Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism Written by: Thomas E. Mann, Norman J. Ornstein The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future Written by: Joseph E. Stiglitz The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted Written by: Mike Lofgren The Betrayal of the American Dream Written by: Donald L. Barlett, James B. Steele Beyond Outrage: What Has Gone Wrong with Our Economy and Our Democracy, and How to Fix Them Written by: Robert B. Reich End This Depression Now! Written by: Paul Krugman Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis Written by: Jimmy Carter Twilight of the Elites: America after Meritocracy Written by: Christopher Hayes Pity the Billionaire: The Unexpected Resurgence of the American Right Written by: Thomas FrankThe Future: Six Drivers of Global Change Written by: Al Gore The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science - and Reality Written by: Chris Mooney Whose Freedom?: The Battle Over America's Most Important Idea Written by: George Lakoff Don't Think of an Elephant!: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate Written by: George Lakoff Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - and What We Can Do About It Written by: Thom Hartmann What Would Jefferson Do?: A Return to Democracy Written by: Thom Hartmann Paradise Lost: By: John MiltonAbsolute Surrender: By: Andrew MurrayAll of Grace: Charles H. SpurgeonIn His Steps by Charles Monroe Sheldon